The fallen fruit A novel

Family secrets abound as Cecily explores her unexpected inheritance. While she's been estranged from her father's family, the death of the aunt who raised her reveals that 65 acres in Virginia are waiting for her. But the mind-boggling discovery she makes is that her family is gifted--or cursed--with an inherited ability to fall through time. Enough family members have done so that there are rules written out and buried caches of supplies for those caught unprepared. Cecily must decide whether to break one of the cardinal rules and change a past event in order to save her family. Madison (A Dream's Last Embers, 2023) weaves in details from her own history and the real Free State to ground the more fabulous elements and give this world a fascinating depth. Cecily's journey will interest those who enjoyed the time traveling of Octavia Butler's masterpiece, Kindred. The family mystery, the generations spanned, and the misfortunes Cecily learns about will also appeal to fans of intricate, multigenerational tales like Gabriel García Márquez's classic One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Madison (the Flea Market Magic Mystery series) chronicles a professor's efforts to break her family's curse in this ambitious time travel narrative. In 1968, Black history professor Cecily Bridge-Davis inherits 65 acres of land in Virginia from her father's family. She plans to sell, but while searching the property, she stumbles upon a family Bible, within which are the records of a long-held secret: in each generation of the Bridge family, one member mysteriously vanishes, transported to the past. Driven to uncover the truth and understand the implications of this curse, Cecily launches an investigation that brings her into contact with her own ancestors. Among them is Luke, the first Bridge to fall through time. From him, Cecily learns that a single change in the past could impact the future. Armed with this knowledge, Cecily meets Luke's mother and tries to convince her to make different decisions and so alter their futures, breaking the curse. An abrupt ending and some wonky pacing disappoint, but Madison expertly navigates the time jumps, weaving together a robust shared history for the Bridge family. Fans of complex historical speculative fiction will be pleased. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Sept.)

Every year, at winter's end, Millie and her brother Isaiah explore their family's farm in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia. Isaiah carries a backpack full of survival gear, the most important being fabricated freedom papers. Millie is more carefree. She travels light, looking in wonder at the landscape surrounding them, transfixed by the indifferent cold of winter. They stumble across a man's body stuck fast to the frozen grass. He has fallen not through space but through time. Such is the curse of their family; unless someone can get to the rotted root of the matter, the same fate awaits either Millie or Isaiah. Madison's (Lowdown Pawn Shop Leprechauns) latest offers a promising story concept, but the character development and rushed plot might be disappointing to some readers. The novel is redeemed, however, by thoughtfully researched historical references and insight into Virginia's Black history. VERDICT A unique speculative story that could have been further developed.--Amira Walker